How will Blue Origin work?

The Goddard test vehicle successfully completed the test launch that sent it up 285 feet.

Blue Origin

Although Bezos has remained somewhat secretive about Blue Origin, he has offered clues about his plans, and we can derive some information from U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) documents.

­Blue Origin has constructed and test flown the Goddard, which was named for rocket pioneer Robert Goddard. Many compare the Goddard to the DC-X, a NASA test vehicle, because of its appearance and launching style. The Goddard, which has a cone-shaped nose with a blunt bottom, both launches and lands in a vertical position and sits on four legs. A video released by Blue Origin shows the Goddard completing a test flight where it reached an altitude of 285 feet (about 87 meters). This height may seem unimpressive, but it aligns with Blue Origin's step by step philosophy. It plans to start with low-altitude flights and progressively reach higher altitudes [source: FAA].

Up Next

The Goddard, as a test vehicle, is the precursor to what will eventually send tourists to space, the New Shepard. Named after the first U.S. astronaut in space, Alan Shepard, the New Shepard will be a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) and take space tourists up to altitudes of 325,000 feet (99,060 meters) [source: FAA]. This amounts to more than 61 miles (98 kilometers), which qualifies as space altitude. The U.S. military considers anyone who exceeds a 50-mile (80 kilometers) vertical height a certifiable astronaut [source: Jenkins]. To accommodate it for commercial tourism, the vehicle will seat three or more people in the crew capsule.

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The rockets propelling New Shepard to suborbital heights will run on rocket-grade kerosene and high test peroxide (HTP), which is a highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide solution. The FAA document describes a few variations about the flight of the New Shepard, which will last fewer than 10 minutes from start to finish:

In one scenario, the ship's engines will shut off after two minutes, allowing it to coast to suborbital heights. Then, upon descent, the engines will restart, allowing the vehicle to land safely and in one piece on a landing pad.

In another scenario, the crew capsule separates from the rocket propulsion module during flight. The crew capsule would then land safely by taking advantage of the slowing effect of atmospheric drag, perhaps with parachutes.

Bezos hasn't yet revealed how much the price of a ride on his New Shepard will be, but the fact that he's hoping to send three people up a week suggests a comparatively cheap ticket. He states on the Blue Origin Web site that one of its main goals is to make space travel cheaper and available for more people [source: Bezos].

For more information on space travel and to see a video of Goddard's successful test flight, investigate the links on the next page.

No Houston? No Problem

The New Shepard will work autonomously, without any ground control. Instead, it has on board systems that allow the humans on the ship to control it. Blue Origin doesn't offer details on how this will work, but FAA documents reveal that a ground operator will be on hand and will help inform the passengers if an emergency is detected [source: FAA].